Let's talk about what King's Bounty is. Heroes of Might & Magic is the easiest touchstone - a fantasy world which you roam around from a fairly birds-eye perspective, being sucked into turn-based strategic battles whenever you encounter an enemy. Whilst the battles are ostensibly Final Fantasy-esque, with two opposing sides taking turns to biff each other with wild abilities, the difference is that you're pitching armies against each other. You've got 68 archers, 108 snakes, 34 guard droids and three Cyclops and a bunch of werewolves; he's got a gaggle of ghosts, skeletons, dragons, pirates and bears. Now... Fight!
While you're initially pretty cavalier about the lives of your units, the game increasingly becomes about minimising casualties. A victory doesn't count for much if you're left too weak to fight anyone else and you don't have enough cash in the bank to buy reinforcements. So, combining your various abilities is key - one unit might buff another, a spell might increase susceptibility to fire attacks , or your pet dragon (bear with me) could summon a temporary, disposable squad of, say, griffons to soak up the enemy's attacks. It's complicated stuff, but very pleasantly so - both in terms of feeling like you've got a handle on it, and because the game's almost absurdly colourful appearance and super-charming animations act everything out so well.
That's what you'll spend most of your time doing - pitting armies against each other, earning experience points and cash as a result, and in turn buying new units and upgrades for your own team. It's very much an RPG, comparable in some ways to the compulsion, drive and visual reward of Diablo or the recent Torchlight, only at a slower pace and with a whole lot more brains. Outside of the fights, you roam a lavish, World of Warcraft-style fantasy world, picking up quests and buying new stuff.
The running gag of the titular princess brooking no flirtation from the many men of a male-dominated world can be amusing, but it's not quite sparky enough to generate anecdotes, which The Legend did so well. There are some wildly inventive boss fights and powers, but essentially you'll be playing this more for the mechanics than for the strangeness.
The good news is that those mechanics are great - pairing Diablo-like compulsion with the tactics of Might & Magic is an enormously impressive feat in itself, let alone doing it as masterfully and charmingly as this. You'll spend a couple of dozen contented hours roaming a beautiful world, collecting and doffing up weird creatures. It's slicker than KB in a lot of ways, too - the incongruously cute pet dragon that lends a remote hand during your fights is a smart amalgamation of the over-complicated Rage uber-powers from the first game, for instance, while an instant transport system means there's nowhere near as much backtracking through now-empty zones. There are tons of tiny under-the-hood changes and improvements, resulting in a smoother-playing and slightly more accessible experience than its noble parent.
Armored Princess is a, beautiful and highly-polished game, and a welcome presence on any PC.